Ioana Cristina Goicea played wonderfully […]. She is a true artist, and that is what matters. She has potential to become a star […]” – Vadim Repin

 

Ioana Cristina Goicea is one of the outstanding violinists of her generation. She won First Prize at the 2017 Michael Hill International Violin Competition in New Zealand, with critics praising her passionate performance and describing her as “a new star in the musical firmament.” In 2018 she won First Prize at the German Music Competition in Bonn and was a laureate of the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis. In 2019 she became a prize winner of the prestigious Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels. She is also the winner of the J. Brahms International Competition (2013) and laureate of the ”Fritz Kreisler” International Violin Competition Vienna (2014).

 

Ms. Goicea has performed as a soloist at renowned venues in Europe, Asia, America, New Zealand and Australia, among them the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Konzerthaus Berlin, St Martin-in-the-Fields London, the Melbourne Recital Centre, Wiener Konzerthaus, Bozar Brussels, Meistersingerhalle Nürnberg, the Shanghai Concert Hall, the Athenaeum Bucharest, Townhall Auckland.

 

In addition to her career as a soloist, the young violinist is also an avid chamber musician.

 

Ioana Cristina Goicea was born into a family of musicians in Bucharest in 1992. She studied with Mariana Sirbu, Petru Munteanu and Krzysztof Wegrzyn at the Universities of Music Leipzig, Rostock and Hannover.

 

She plays a J.B. Vuillaume violin, on loan from a generous private donour as well as a modern violin by Jürgen Manthey (Leipizig, 2021).

 

Ioana Cristina lives in Vienna and holds a Professorship at the University of Music and Performing Arts since 2020.

Cellist Victoria Simonsen has been described by The Strad as ‘a musician of rare quality’ and ‘utterly compelling’ by The Observer. She enjoys a varied musical life which includes solo, chamber music and orchestral work, as well as recording film and television soundtracks. Victoria was born in Auckland, New Zealand, and is now based in London, U.K., with her two young children.

 

Victoria is a Professor of Cello at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM). In New Zealand, she studied at Auckland University with James Tennant before moving to the RNCM, where she studied cello with Ralph Kirshbaum and Karine Georgian and composition with Anthony Gilbert, culminating with winning the RNCM’s Gold Medal in 2006.  She continued her studies as a string quartet fellow at the Guildhall School of Music and later with Julius Berger in Germany. Victoria gained further inspiration through masterclasses with cellists such as Mstislav Rostropovich, Anner Bylsma, Bernard Greenhouse, Gary Hoffman, Luis Claret, Philippe Muller, Johannes Goritzki, Colin Carr, Raphael Wallfisch and Jens Peter Maintz.

 

A love of chamber music led Victoria to join the Rautio Piano Trio in 2015. The trio has recorded three albums for Resonus Classics, with plans to complete a cycle of Beethoven trios on period instruments. Her chamber music performances have been broadcast on radio and TV and concerts have included London’s Wigmore Hall, the BBC Proms, Purcell Room, IMS Prussia Cove, Manchester International Festival, Kronberg Germany, Banff Canada and two national tours for Chamber Music New Zealand.

 

In 2005 Victoria was appointed Principal Cellist with Opera North and in 2007 she moved to London and enjoyed a decade as a member of the Philharmonia Orchestra, touring throughout Europe, Asia, North and South America. She now works regularly with the London Symphony Orchestra and has appeared as Guest Principal with many of the UK’s major orchestras, including the Royal Opera House, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic.

Dene Olding is recognised as one of Australia’s most outstanding violinists. Until 2024, he was first violinist for the Goldner String Quartet and the Australia Ensemble (resident at the University of New South Wales) for many years and is Concertmaster Emeritus of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

As a soloist he has worked with all of the Australian Symphony and Chamber Orchestras in a range of repertoire. He has performed over forty concertos and worked with some of the world’s leading conductors including Edo de Waart, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Stuart Challender, Sir Charles Mackerras, Jorge Mester, Gunther Herbig, Werner Andreas Albert, David Porcelijn and Vladimir Ashkenazy. He gave the Australian premiere performance of Lutoslawski’s Chain 2 with the composer conducting, Elliott Carter’s Violin Concerto and the Violin Concerto of Philip Glass. In addition, he has performed world premieres of violin concertos by Carl Vine, Ross Edwards , Bozidar Kos and the Double Concerto for violin and viola by Richard Mills, written for himself and his wife, Irina Morozova.

Dene has also held the position of Leader and Director of the Australian Chamber Orchestra and is often sought after to lead/direct concerts with many other orchestras. He has also been the Artistic Director of the Mostly Mozart Festival at the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Festival Chamber Music Concert Program. He appears regularly at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music and at many festivals in Australasia and Europe. In 2010 he appeared at the Edinburgh Festival as soloist with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and conductor, Vladimir Ashkenazy.
Dene attended the Juilliard School In New York from the age of fourteen as a scholarship student of Ivan Galamian and Margaret Pardee.

He graduated in 1978 with the Master of Music Degree and was awarded the Morris Loeb Prize. Other studies included master classes with Nathan Milstein and further lessons with Herman Krebbers and Gyorgy Pauk. In 1985, he was awarded the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship to further his musical studies and during that year, became a Laureate of the Queen Elisabeth of Belgium International Violin Competition.

Solo recordings include a sonata disc of Brahms, Beethoven and Mozart for ABC Classics with his father, Max Olding, the CD premiere of concertos by Frank Martin and Milhaud and concertos by Samuel Barber and Ross Edwards (Maninyas) – winner of the 1994 A.R.I.A. award for “Best Classical Recording” and the prestigious Cannes award. He has also recorded the Hindemith violin concerti with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra under Werner Andreas Albert for CPO. His numerous chamber music CD’s have also received acclaim. Recently, the recording of chamber music of Edward Elgar with the Goldner Quartet and pianist Piers Lane for the Hyperion label was selected as Gramophone magazine’s “Record of the Month” and spent time on the “Classical top 10” in the UK. His recording of the complete Beethoven string quartets with the Goldner quartet for ABC Classics was chosen Classical album of the year by Limelight magazine and a recording of rare Rachmaninov violin works with pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy also received praise from The Strad magazine.

In 2011, he gave the premiere performance of the Carl Vine violin concerto with the Australian Youth Orchestra at the Sydney Opera House.

As a member of the Goldner String Quartet and the Australia Ensemble, he regularly toured to Europe, Asia and New Zealand. He has been awarded the Centenary Medal of Australia and has received numerous awards and accolades for his performances in all spheres of music-making. Dene is passionate about the future of classical music and his role as Artistic Adviser (until 2016) and frequent jury member for the Michael Hill International Violin Competition as making an important contribution to that end. Dene also serves on the Board of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and is Chair of the Australian Music Foundation and Artistic Adviser for the Young Performers Awards

He manages to combine a passion for Aikido and sailing with his busy musical career and spending time with his wife, Irina and son, Nikolai.

In 2017, he was made a Member of the Order of Australia for his services to music.